Improvement in banjos



0. E. DOBSON. Banjo.

I No. 203,604. Patented May 14, I878.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. DOBSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,-ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO HENRY O. DOBSON, OF SAME PLACE.

lM PROVEM ENT IN BANJOS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 203,604, dated May 14, 1878; application filed April 16, 1877.

To all whom it may concern: Y

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. DoBsoN, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Banjos, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a front View of the banjo. A A show the overhanging or projecting portion of the finger-board on the neck E. F is the metal dome-shaped ring, over which the parchment head A is drawn.

Fig. 2 is a crosssection of the body portion of the instrument, including a part of the neck E.

D is the wooden ring or rim O G, the metal or other band or stretcher-hoop, to which the parchment head A is secured.

The ring F is fastened to or rests upon the front edge of the rim D, the head A being tightened by any usual clamps K.

H are the strings, and Jthe bridge, supported upon the head A in the ordinary manner.

The special advantage and improvement of my construction consists in the are or dome shaped ring F, having an open center, over which the head is stretched, and also in the projecting portion A of the neck or fingerboard E. The rounded shape of the ring causes less wear upon the head than the more angular corner or edge now in use, and also contributes materially to increase the tone or resonance.

What I claim as new is 1. In a banjo, the dome-shaped ring F, of metal or other material, in combination with the rim D and head A, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the dome-shaped ring F, the neck E, having the projecting overhang A, substantially as set forth.

CHARLES E. DOBSON.

Witnesses HENRY O. DoBsoN, GEO. S. STILWELL. 

